D-Link DGS-3426P Product Manual - Page 116

xStack® DGS-3400 Series Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet Managed Switch sFlow sFlow is a feature on the Switch that allows users to monitor network traffic running through the switch to identify network problems through packet sampling and packet counter information of the Switch. The Switch itself is the sFlow agent where packet data is retrieved and sent to an sFlow Analyzer where it can be scrutinized and utilized to resolve the problem. The Switch can configure the settings for the sFlow Analyzer but the remote sFlow Analyzer device must have an sFlow utility running on it to retrieve and analyze the data it receives from the sFlow agent. The Switch itself will collect three types of packet data: 1. It will take sample packets from the normal running traffic of the Switch based on a sampling interval configured by the user. 2. The Switch will take a poll of the IF counters located on the switch. 3. The Switch will also take a part of the packet header. The length of the packet header can also be determined by the user. Once this information has been gathered by the switch, it is packaged into a packet called an sFlow datagram, which is then sent to the sFlow Analyzer for analysis. For a better understanding of the sFlow feature of this Switch, refer to the adjacent diagram. Figure 2 - 128 sFlow Basic Setup 107